customizing

[esquire_player52]

A few months ago I got my tele and now i wanna customize her. and i need a name for her. but thats besides the point.

1. gotta have a bigsby
2. want 3 tone sunburst
3. black pickguard
4. noiseless pups (or at least ones that don't hum)
5. strap locks which i already have
6. planet waves auto-trim locking tuners
7. new strings

if anybody has spare parts layin around they wanna give away or sell let me know

[Cooper]

that's some serious modding. what kind of tele do you have?

i'd almost be inclined to go with a whole new one, if i were you. unless you have a nitro-finished body, refinishing for a 3-color burst is going to be TOUGH! and since you'll be switching out everything else but the neck, i think you'd have a lot more fun just starting from scratch and building a new bigsby-equipped hum-free tele.

good luck!

[Strat82]

if that is what i wanted from a guitar, it'd probably be easier to just build from scratch!

check out the new fender tele model with the bigsby tremolo...the kind springsteen was playing on the latest tour.

[Kevin]

Listen to Cooper; you're about to get in over your head.

From what I've read in your posts, you don't have the experience to do these mods yourself. You have a Squier, right? That poly is some tough stuff to strip, and you can't be sure that your wood is "nice" enough for a sunburst finish. Even if it is, refinishing a guitar is not easy , and a sunburst is much less so than a solid color. No one would recommend a sunburst for your first project.

On top of that, you've got wiring and setup to do. Can you do that?

If you paid to have this done, it would cost more than the guitar is worth.

My advice would be to invest in a nice body, pay someone to do the sunburst, and send it to Rob D. for assembly.

[esquire_player52]

i have this really old crappy guitar that isn't even tuneable and i took it apart to paint sunburst for experience but since i'm on a budget i didn't have any paint and there was this huge pretty much all day cross country meet and i put it back together since it has a built in amp and played had retune about every 2 seconds but at least i wasn't bored. it;ll eventually stay tuned after a few hours of retuning. and since i am on a budget i'm just gonna do what i can when i can. painting will definetly be last since i don't get a tele to play while i'm workin on that. and all the other jobs will only take a few minutes to a few hours to do.

[Kevin]

Whatever... I can't even understand what you write, ep52.

I would be less inclined, if on a strict budget, to mess with a good guitar than I would be if I had unlimited funds with which to replace it. But that's just me... What do I know about working on guitars?

[esquire_player52]

what kind of experience and/or education u got?

[GilmourD]

Originally Posted by esquire_player52

what kind of experience and/or education u got?

All I have to say is... Search for any post that Kevin wrote that has a picture in it... You will then understand.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by esquire_player52

what kind of experience and/or education u got?

AFA education, I have a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, and have had my research published in several major journals. My specific research interests are in the areas of early detection of psychopathology and psychiatric genetics. I don't think that's what you meant, though....

AFA experience, I've been building guitars -- that's starting with a plank of wood, mind you, since 1989. Click my WWW link below.

I'm not trying to give you a hard time, here. We're all just trying to give you some advice -- things that we learned the hard way by doing just what you are proposing. I'm all for someone trying to learn as much as possible about their guitar, and learning to build and modify them, but I hate to see anyone ruin the only one they have.

It's up to you, of course. I could care less if you mess up your guitar.

In case you missed the posts, here's a body I've been working on. This one started from four planks of wood (two for the back, two for the top).

[Cooper]

since i'm on a budget

i'm definitely not trying to kill your dream, but modding or building your own guitar is not cost effective. this much i can tell you from personal experience. i have built one tele, and modded the crap out of several guitars, and every project always comes out way more expensive than i thought it would. turning a squier into your own custom made axe is a fun challenge, but don't expect to come out cheaper:

1. gotta have a bigsby

$75, and that's getting a deal.

2. want 3 tone sunburst

at least $50 - $100 in finishing supplies.

3. black pickguard

$25 for a non-fender pickguard that may or may not fit.

4. noiseless pups (or at least ones that don't hum)

$150 for vintage noiseless by fender

6. planet waves auto-trim locking tuners

$50???

so that's $350 . . . . for that you can buy a Standard Telecaster new. or a used one and have $$$ left for a bigsby.

other things to consider:

you will need a new bridge for the bigsby. the stock squier bridge will not work. you can file down a 3-barrel bridge ($40) or you can buy an actual bigsby tele bridge ($?). a new bridge may require drilling new holes, and those kinds of holes should not be done without a drill press.

i have not had the testicular fortitude to drill for a bigsby on my teles yet, but you will be permenantly adding holes to the top of the body. these holes will DEFINITELY require a drill press, and must be perfectly aligned.

a three-color sunburst is probably the hardest finish of all to do well, and no finish is easy. plus, it will look like crap if you don't have nice grain. a squier body is not likely to have nice grain.

anybody can do wiring, but it takes knowing what to do. if you've never used a soldering iron before, you will be in for a lot of frustration.

same with a complete setup. if you feel comfortable with it, you can do it. if you're completely new to it, you're in for a few days of banging your head against the wall until you finally break down and take it to a pro.

i certainly wish you luck. this is about the best place in the world to find info on what you want to do, and anybody here will be happy to help. most have more experience than i (Keven, for example) and can help you out of almost any jam you get into. have fun with it, but don't chop up your main axe without a backup plan!

[esquire_player52]

I'm gonna see if Mr. B (my shop teacher) will sell a piece or two actually of ash for so i can just build a new body and then switch everything from my tele over to the body i made. my g-pa has some redwood but i think that my be too soft.

[esquire_player52]

has anyone ever made a neck?

[Cooper]

i have never made either a neck or a body, but from what i understand, both are tedious. you'd definitely need to get some good templates for the body.

the neck would be tough. actually shaping it might be ok, but there is a whole lot of mathematical theory behind the fret placement.

there are several instrument makers boards online. http://www.mimf.com/ is a good place to start.

[Kevin]

I've never made a neck -- I've thought about it quite a bit, though.

If I were going to do it, I'd shape the back and headstock myself, cut the truss rod channel, and install the rod. I think I'd buy a pre-slotted fretboard from Stew Mac, though, so I wouldn't have to calculate the fret spacing myself.

[esquire_player52]

i got a job interview tomorrow so hopefully by the time i get to the neck i can buy it :D